Vindolanda Museum and Archaeological Site Reviews Summary

Site and Museum Experience

Pros:

• "The ruins are presented wonderfully with signposts telling you what different areas were used as and even audio posts telling you history."
• "Thousands of artefacts on display in the museum are definitely worth seeing."
• "A must see for any history geek. The indoor museum bit is incredible too...lots to see, all in different varieties of display."
• "The museum here has a ton of information and everything behind glass."
• "The museum is huge and filled with artefacts. There is a free tour a few times a day."
• "The museum was interesting and informative, with a lot of information about the finds."
• "The museum is full of surprising finds and is well explained."
• "Fantastic and should be on your bucket list. Not a place to rush and plan to spend at least half a day."

Cons:

• "The past was a tale of exciting people. They deserve more exciting exhibitions."
• "The signage on the village and Fort was lacking in amount and detail, otherwise average good day out."
• "The museum offers a good free walking tour with a guide at certain times in which there is a detailed explanation of the site and gives you a great opportunity to ask burning questions you might have."
• "The museum had interesting exhibits but a bit too difficult for young children."
• "A small blackboad was on the wall....very vague."
• "The display of writing tablets is rather disappointing, only a small room and the explanatory panels are difficult to read."
• "There is little imagination in what is available given that Vindolanda is such an amazing place."
• "The only issue I would have with the place is, it doesn't in anyway cater for the disabled as the walk down to the cafe/shop is very steep."

Guided Tours and Staff Interaction

Pros:

• "We took part in a guided tour led by Steve. It was incredibly informative and helped to bring the site to life."
• "A really good experience. There is an excellent museum as well as the foundations of the Roman fort. I recommend taking the tour included in the ticket price."
• "The guided tour is thoroughly recommended as it gives a real sense of the history of the Roman Fort and village."
• "The staff were incredibly friendly, the museum was interesting without being too much and the whole place set in an incredible area."
• "The staff on site were very knowledgeable and enthusiastic. Reenactors on site during our visit also added greatly to our visitor experience."
• "We joined a tour group which gave us lots of information."
• "Superb. Has to be seen to be believed, really terrific site that is giving up more secrets every year as it is a live archaeology site each summer."
• "The guided tours, given by enthusiastic, informed volunteers, are really well worth taking."

Cons:

• "The actual site was being dug by volunteers and archaeologists during my visit, they were all more than happy to chat about what they were doing and progress made, but there wasn't much for kids to get involved in."
• "Sadly the attitude of one of the museum/cafe staff really annoyed me. Before our visit we had been to the Roman army museum, part of the Vindolanda trust."
• "The staff at the restaurant are good but the experience is average; there is little imagination in what is available."
• "The whole extent was great. The museum was excellent....a video depicting daily life would help bring the experience to life."